Chapter 8 Battle Southwest Shandong
Wang Xianzhi's expedition to Yizhou, failed several times, and the rebels suffered heavy casualties. After three stops, the battlefield situation became more and more unfavorable to the rebels. At this time, Song Weiji strictly ordered the Qingzhou army to make a rapid advance, and the soldiers pointed directly to Yizhou. In other war zones, the Tang army also began to send small troops to carry out harassing attacks on the cities occupied by the rebels.
Just when Wang Xianzhi was at a loss, the liaison sent by Huang Chao arrived and reported to Wang Xianzhi on the battle situation of Huang Chao's Qingzhou Legion on the front line of Daxian Mountain, saying that the battle was in a stalemate. He suggested that Wang Xianzhi withdraw his troops to Caozhou and make a plan. Shang Rang was also nearby and advised: "Brother, this hard bone in Yizhou is difficult to eat for a short time. Our army lacks powerful siege equipment. Most of the soldiers have not undergone formal military training. Zhang Yan's defense is quite tight, leaving Qingshan, and he is not afraid of firewood. I think it's better to withdraw! Meet Brother Huang in Caozhou to study the way out.
Wang Xianzhi's voice was hoarse: "Is the blood of so many brothers flowing in vain?" Shang Rang shook his head helplessly: "The enemy is strong and I am weak, and it is not a way to fight hard. Brother, in order for the rebels to further develop in the future, we can no longer make unnecessary sacrifices." Wang Xianzhi hesitated for a while and had no choice but to agree to withdraw. The Yi Rebels slowly retreated to Caozhou under the command of Wang Xianzhi and Shang Rang, and Zhang Yan did not dare to send troops to chase them.
Besides, on Huang Chao's side, life is not easy. Cao Quanhan, a general under Song Wei's command, led 10,000 elite Tang soldiers to the front line of Daxian Mountain. Huang Kui ordered troops to fight against each other. In the sound of military drums, Huang Kui jumped to the horse and held a gun and took Cao Quanyu straight. Cao Quanhan waved double whips and fought against Huang Kui. The two generals fought in fifty or sixty, regardless of victory or defeat.
In the Rebel array, Huang Siye, a young general, was afraid of Huang Kui's loss and shouted, "Uncle Shao Xie, I'll come!" The horse carried a knife and killed Cao Quanyu. A general in the Tang army's black helmet and black robe was Cao Yi, the eldest son of Cao Quanqi. He bravely crowned the three armies and made a square sky painting halberd. The flying horse moved forward and stopped Huang Siyu to fight. The four generals fought for their lives like horse lanterns. This fierce fight stunned the soldiers of the second army.
Huang Chao waved Zaoyang and shouted, "Brothers, kill me!" The rebels shouted to kill the Qingzhou soldiers. Seeing this, Song Wei shook the flag. The Tang soldiers relied on many people and rushed to the rebels. The two sides fought a life-and-death struggle and suffered casualties. Under the fierce rush of Huang Chao and other generals, Tang Bing's feet loosened, but under Song Wei's strict order, they quickly returned to the state of confrontation.
Huang Chao felt that if he continued to fight, there would be more disadvantages and less benefits. He decisively ordered the rebels to retreat slowly. Song Wei was afraid of ambush and also withdrew his troops back to the camp. Huang Chao returned to the camp and made an inventory of people and horses, losing more than a thousand. At this time, the battle in Yizhou has arrived. Wang Xianzhi has led his army to safely withdraw to Caozhou. Huang Chao ordered to collect his troops and quickly withdraw to Caozhou.
Song Wei came to the front line and strictly ordered the Tang army to attack Yizhou on the front line. The Tang army in the surrounding theaters also came out to encircle and suppress the rebels. Huang Chao led his troops to fight and retreat, preserving the strength of the Rebel Army. At the same time, Meng Kai's troops in Puzhou were urgently ordered to abandon their guard and go south to Caozhou to meet, and ordered Cao Min and Lin Yan of Changyuan to transfer the materials to Laiwu Mountain as soon as possible. After making the above arrangements, Huang Chao urged the supervisor to return to Caozhou safely after an urgent march.
In terms of Puzhou, after receiving Huang Chao's military order, Meng Kai arranged for Qiao and Niu Feng to grab and transport military supplies to Caozhou. After he personally cut off, he covered the retreat of Puzhou's army and civilians to the south. Xue Chong did not know that the righteous army was false and did not dare to pursue and stay in Yunzhou. Ma Biao, who stationed troops in the north of Puzhou, knew that Meng Kai was not easy to mess with, so he led his troops to follow him far away and did not dare to fight with Meng Kai. The military and civilians in Puzhou successfully completed the transfer task.
Soon, the Rebel generals gathered together again in Caozhou. As soon as they sat down the discussion, they visited Ma Lai and reported: "General, Zeng Yuanyu, the general of the Tang Dynasty, was ordered to gather 100,000 troops on the north bank of the Yellow River and drive towards Caozhou." Wang Xianzhi waved her hand and walked out of the tent.
The generals discussed the strategy of defeating the enemy one after another. Wang Xianzhi raised her thin face and stared at the generals: "Brothers, now that Li Tang's soldiers are under pressure, and our army is in danger. Let's talk about how to defeat the enemy."
Lin Yan was young and angry, and he was the first to stand up and speak: "The soldiers will block, and the water will flood. Who is afraid of whom? Let's fight to the death with the Tang army!" Yue Lingfei suffered an arrow injury in his leg when attacking Yizhou. This time, he attended a military meeting with injuries. He lay on a stretcher and said hard, "In the east expedition to Yizhou, the brothers suffered a lot of casualties. Our military strength has decreased a lot. We urgently need... rest, and we can't fight hard... Go on."
Chai Cun, Shang Junchang and others all agree with Yue Lingfei's opinion. Huang Chao said at this time: "At present, the military strength of the two sides in southwest Shandong is at an absolute disadvantage. Lingfei is right, and it can only be a dead end. In my opinion, the main force will be zero and carry out mobile operations from south to west. If they can break out, they will break out. If they can't break out, they will drill into the ravines. Together with the local people, they will adopt guerrilla tactics and wait for the army to come back to meet. This time, the old, weak, sick and disabled will all stay in southwest Shandong, and we can discuss the specific candidates. In a word, we should aim to preserve our living power, so that we can have the capital to make a comeback.
Huang Chao's words, like seeing the sun, dispelled the shadows in everyone's hearts. Everyone's thoughts suddenly became clear. Wang Xianzhi also admired Huang Chao's strategy. He said happily, "Ha, Brother Huang's plan is still complete, and we will act according to Brother Huang's deployment. OK, next we will discuss a specific way to turn it to zero.
After repeated research and discussion, the meeting made a final decision: Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao each led 3,000 elite soldiers from the southwest, crossed the Bian River, and gathered in Yang Zhai, which was empty troops of the Tang army. Chai Cun, Yue Lingfei, Huang Kui, Sun Mei and Cao Min led the left-behind soldiers and civilians to fight guerrillas in the Laiwu Mountains and stepped up the construction of weapons. Chai Cun is the commander-in-chief. The rest of the generals led a thousand elite soldiers to the west and south, and then met in Yangzhai. After achieving the results in the Central Plains, he returned to the horse gun, returned to southwest Shandong, and joined with Chai Cun to make a big plan.
The righteous soldiers who broke through the siege are about to set out, and the left-behind soldiers and civilians are reluctant to give up and cherish each other. Wang Xianzhi held Sun Mei's hand tightly and said affectionately, "Madam, don't worry, we will come back in half a year or at least two or three months. At that time, we will have much more people than now!" Sun Mei flashed with tears and sobbed, "Xianzhi, you are the commander of the three armies, but you can't be angry. You should listen to everyone's opinions in everything. I'm waiting for you to come back from my hometown. Drink less wine on weekdays. If you drink too much, you will often make mistakes.
Wang Xianzhi smiled: "I remember my wife's words!" He turned his head and said to Wen Ying, "Xiao Ying, you have to take good care of your wife." Wen Ying nodded: "General, don't worry, I will definitely follow my wife and protect her."
Huang Chao and Cao Mei are also deeply in love with each other. Naturally, they must remind each other. Other Rebel relatives and friends are in tears and talk about their feelings of separation. It's no wonder that everyone used to live and fight together, but now they are suddenly separated, so they are not used to it. I advise you to drink a glass of wine, and there is no reason to go out of Yangguan in the west. At this moment, the love between the military and the people, the love between relatives and friends, the love between life and death, are all in saying goodbye.
And since Zeng Yuanyu received the imperial edict from Yang Fuguang, the eunuch of the army, he did not dare to slack off. He checked the soldiers and horses in Luoyang, the eastern capital, personally led 100,000 troops to encircle and suppress Wang Xianzhi and marched east along the Yellow River. He ordered the deputy general Zhang Zimian to lead 5,000 iron riders as the striker. Zhang Zimian led the troops to Huazhou in a few days. Du Yu personally went out of the city to welcome Zhang Zimian into the city, and it was inevitable to arrange a banquet.
The Tang army in the eastern capital has always been arrogant, extorting and doing all kinds of evil. The people in Huazhou were unlucky and hated this army. They reported the Tang army to the Rebels from time to time. The rebels got the information and calmly jumped out of the Tang army's encirclement. Zhang Zimian's iron horse collides like headless flies. Finally, one day, he found out that a volunteer army was moving around the Bian River. Zhang Zimian did not think about it and immediately ordered a pursuit and threatened to completely annihilate this volunteer army.
The volunteer army chased by Zhang Zimian is Huang Chao's team. Huang Chao has been stationed on the south bank of the Bian River for many days to cover other righteous troops to retreat to Yangzhai. In order to confuse Zhang Zimian, Huang Chao pretended to cross the Bian River in the north and collected wooden boats and trained soldiers on the south bank. Zhang Zimian's straw bag was indeed a trick, and came with an iron horse. Encircle and suppress the yellow nest.
Huang Chao took advantage of the pontoon bridge and just crossed the bridge, Huang Chao set up ambushes on the south bank and blocked the bridge with strong bows and hard crossbows. The front team of the Tang soldiers was frustrated, the horses were shocked, trampled on each other, and the formation was in chaos. Huang Chao led the army to attack. Zhang Zimian escaped from the battle and fled to Jiangbei. The Tang soldiers who remained in the south of the Yangtze River were torn off by the rebels because of the floating bridge. Except for being killed in the battle, After being a prisoner, the Rebels won the victory, and Huang Chao's reputation spread all over Southwest Shandong. When the Tang army mentioned Huang Chao, everyone was shocked and scared.
Zhang Zimian led 5,000 iron riders to lose more than half of the damage. He went to see Zeng Yuanyu with a gray face. He was scolded by Zeng Yuanyu and was almost beheaded. Zeng Yuanyu asked him to escort grain and be the logistics minister. Zhang Zimian had no choice but to take office. Zeng Yuanyu and Yang Fuguang led the brigade to come to the Bian River to fight against Huang Chao's main force. The rebels had already withdrawn, and even half a figure could not be found. Zeng Yuanyu was so angry that there was nothing he could do.
After Song Wei and Zhang Yan joined forces, he commanded all kinds of Tang troops to search for the rebels, and also caught some Rebel soldiers and tortured Wang Xianzhi's whereabouts. Song Wei was overjoyed. Half a month later, the southern region began to calm down, and the Tang army reoccupied the originally lost city. Song Wei thought that Wang Xianzhi had died in the chaotic army. At this time, the messenger sent by the court arrived. Song Wei was eager to ask for merit. Fearing that Zeng Yuanyu would grab the first merit, he hurried to the table, saying that Wang Xianzhi had been killed in battle and the thieves had won. Li, please relax.
Li Yan looked at the table and was overjoyed to see the news that Wang Xianzhi had been killed in battle! He stretched out, burped, hummed a small tune, and said to Tian Lingzi, "Tian Aiqing, Song Wei has made contributions to suppressing thieves. I will pass on my will. There are rewards for participating in suppressing thieves. I will ask you to handle the specific operation. For this Wang Xianzhi, I have disturbed my Yaxing. I haven't played polo for several days, and I will resume polo activities tomorrow.
Tian Lingzi, a pair of slaves, said flatteringly, "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will deal with it as soon as possible and reward the meritorious soldiers."
At this moment, Zheng Wei ran over breathlessly. Seeing Li Wei, Zheng Wei hurriedly knelt down and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, the plaintiff is anxious!"